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Wi-owner

by the Jamaica starAndre Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

JFF general secretary Horace Reid. - File

It may cost the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) as much as $4 million to stage their 30-day training camp ahead of the January 31 friendly international against Canada inside the National Stadium. However, JFF general secretary Horace Reid has defended the need to stage the camp.

The match is deemed to be an extremely important encounter by the Captain Horace Burrell-led administration, in light of the team's recent plunge in the FIFA rankings, slipping seven places to number 81 in the world.

The present position would prevent players who wish to ply their trade in the UK from obtaining a work permit from the British Home Office and will also affect the team's appeal to international opponents.

importance of match

Reid confirmed the figures while underlining the importance of the match. He also added that the administration is looking to take advantage of the fact that a number of the island's top players, particularly those based in Scandinavian and the USA, are already in the island.

Said Reid, "If we stage a camp weekly and depending on the facilities that we use, it can run us up to a million dollars per week."

"We have to recognise that it is important for us to keep improving on our ranking because players who are currently plying their trade here and those who are playing overseas and have ambitions to play in the UK will need to satisfy certain conditions. One of the conditions would be the ranking of the country that the players are tied to, so we are always looking to improve on that," said Reid.

"We do have a number of our players who play in the MLS and Scandinavian countries in the island, so it was a matter of trying to take advantage of the presence of these players. If they are going to play in the international game against Canada, then they need to be in some kind of shape," Reid continued. "The intention is to get them into a camp and improve the fitness level of the players and also give the coach a chance to assess them."

Reid is in the meantime welcoming the number 56 ranked Canadians and was quick to point out that the Federation is keen to improve on their ranking as they look to secure other top games for the team.

understandable

"A part of the challenge is that the countries that are at the top of the ranking and are better placed are not necessarily keen on playing those teams that are at the bottom of the ranking and that is understandable," said Reid.

"However, we have to keep looking for opportunities and keep playing whenever we get a chance and we are happy that we are going to kick off the new year with Canada. They are much better ranked team than we are, so that is good for us."